Means for mounting a yarn spool in a spinning frame



1963 J. A. KOOISTRA 3,077,069

MEANS FOR MOUNTING A YARN SPOOL IN A SPINNING FRAME Filed March 27, 19613 Sheets-Sheet 1 iliii lii 7 Jooan vi. Koallsfflw,

63 WW, mdq 6 r flii'oflneggs Feb. 12, 1963 J. A. KOOISTRA 3,077,069

MEANS FOR MOUNTING A YARN SPOOL IN A SPINNING FRAME Filed March 27, 19613 Sheets-Sheet 2 18219832208": Joizzz fl.IfoQz3sfa a, 2 g amu u ma 1+632%.!

flioflazegs Feb. 12, 1963 J. A. KOOISTRA 3,077,069

MEANS FOR MOUNTING A YARN SPOOL IN A SPINNING FRAME Filed March 27,l9r6l F .6. 36 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 I I I I IIII I I I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 67 III! I I I I I II 6/ 'w' Guy-1':

United; rates atent @fitee 3,@l ?,h Patented Feb. 12, 1933 3,tl77,tl 69M'EANfi FQR MQUNTHNG A YARN fiPGOL EN A SPHNNZNG FRAME John A. Kooistra,North Andover, Mass, assignor to Davis dz Father Machine Company, NorthAndover, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 27', 1951, Ser-No. 9%,631 Claims. (El. 57-l2'7.5)

This invention relates to the textile industry and is particularlyconcerned with yarn spools as used in spinning or twisting frames.

One of th objectives sought relating to the manufacture and operation ofspinning frames has been the reduction of the over-all height of thespinning frame and its component parts so that the highest elements maybe readily reached by the operators. If the height of the frame and itsparts can be reduced suthciently, it may become possible to eliminatethe conventional step that is found running the length of the frame andon which short operators must stand to reach and piece up yarns comingfrom the yarn spools.

in the conventional spinning frame, the yarn spool has its shafthorizontal with the ends guided by vertical grooves in adjacent spoolstands. The yarn of the spool rests on a rotatable drum positioned belowand axially parallel to it. Rotation of the drum causes rotation of theyarn spool, whereby yarn may be fed to the top rolls of the spinningframe.

The drums of the prior art which support and rotate the yarn spools arecarried on horizontal shafts. As the yarn on a yarn spool is unwound,the spool heads gradually descend in overlapping relationship with theends of the drum. Downward movement of the yarn spool is, therefore,limited by engagement of the spool heads with the drum shaft. This inturn has limited the amount of yarn that may be effectively wound on thespool. To increase the quantity of yarn on a spool so that yarn spoolchanges may be minimized, the spool head diameter must be increased.This necessitates increasing the radius of the drum to substantialequality with the difference between the radius of the spool barrel andthe radius of the spool head. But as the radius of the drum isincreased, the position of the yarn spool above the floor iscorrespondingly raised. Thus there are practical limits to the increasein drum radius and to the related maximum radius of the yarn spool.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of this invention to makepossible the use of a larger yarn spool without increasing the size ofthe drum; or, putting it another way, for a given size drum, myinvention effectively doubles the initial radial dimension of the yarnwound on the spool barrel. Thus, depending on the diameter of thebarrel, up to four times as much yarn may be on the spool.

This highly desirable result is achieved by mounting and driving thedrum in a novel manner which permits escent of the spool heads for abouttwice the distance ossible by the prior practice. This in turn keeps them spool at a relatively low level where it may more eadily be reached bythe operators.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent asthe description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGS. 1 to 5 show the invention in which the drum is driven by frictionmeans:

MG. 1 is an end elevation of a spool stand showing the initial and finalpositions of the descending spool head;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the lower part of the spool stand showing afull yarn spool resting on the drum;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2, showing the position of theyarn spool with relation to the drum after substantially all of the yarnhas been used;

REG. 4 is a fragmentary end view taken on the line 4- of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of one end of the drum,partly in vertical section, showing the relation of the drum to adriving roller.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of one end of the drum according to analternative embodiment of the invention in which gearing is used todrive the drum.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the drum cut away in part showing the rollersand gearing of the alternative form shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring first to the construction shown in FIGS. 1 t0 5, there isshown the upper portion of a spinning frame as at 2 which has mountedthereon a spool stand comprising a pair of spaced spool forks 4 and 6.These forks are conventional and have means at their outwardly extendingupper arms for carrying spare yarn spools d and 143 which will replacethe yarn spool 12 as soon as its yarn has been used.

The yarn spool 12 has a shaft 14, the ends of Whiel are in verticallyextending slots 16 in the spool forks 4- and 6. As can be seen in FIGS.2 and 3, the yarn spool 12 also includes a pair of spool heads is andZtl and a barrel 22 on which the several yarns 24 are wound. In theparticular embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, there are nine individualsections of yarn 2d, each of which serves to feed an individual spindle(not shown).

The fully wound yarn spool 12 rests on a drum 26, which is generally ofconventional construction; but instead of having it mounted on a singleaxially disposed shaft, I provide a pair or" shafts 23 and 349 whichpreferably will extend the length of the spinning frame 2 to support aseries of such drums 26, each of which is 1ocated between a similar pairof spaced spool forks and 6.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the drum 26 is elongatedand cylindrical, its surface being preferably corrugated as suggested at32 in FIG. 5 so as to minimize slippage between the drum 26 and the yarnspool 12. At each end of the drum 26 is a head 3-4 which is turned downas at 35 to fit within the said end of the drum 2e (see FIG. 5). Thedrum 26 may be secured to the head 34 by a plurality of screws asindicated at 38. The outer end of the head as is recessed as at ill toreduce its over-all weight. A groove 42, preferably if-shaped as shown,extends circumferentially about the head 34.. The opposite end of thedrum 26 carries a similar head 3 having a corresponding groove 44, ascan be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

On the shafts 28 and 3d are mounted four small rollers, there being tworollers 46 and 4% on the shaft 2% and two similar rollers, one of whichis shown at 59 in FIGS. 1 and 5, mounted on the other shaft 3%. As canbe seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the center 52 of drum 26 is located above andmidway between the shafts 28 and 38; and the said four small rollers 46,48, 56 and the other roller (not shown) on shaft 39, rest in therespective grooves 42 and 44 at positions sufficiently spaced bothlaterally and longitudinally so that the drum 25 will be securelymaintained in the frame 2.

One or both of the rollers as and 48 are pinned in fixed position on theshaft 2%, while the other rollers may be free to rotate on shaft 343.Thus as the shaft 28 is rotated, it will cause rotation of the drum 26,and this in turn will cause rotation of the yarn spool 12 in the desiredmanner.

T he advantages of the present invention will now be explained in moredetail. As the yarn from the several sections 24 is consumed by thespinning operation, the

radius of the remaining unused yarn will steadily decrease. As thisoccurs, the spool heads 18 and 20 will descend in overlappingrelationship with the drum heads 34. However, since there is no axailshaft through the drum 26, it follows that the spool heads l8 and 29 cancontinue descending until either they engage the shafts 2t and 36 or thebare spool barrel 22 comes to rest on the drum 26. In the presentlypreferred embodiment, the spool heads 18 and 2t) engage the shafts 28and 30 just as the yarn 24 on the barrel Z2 is exhausted.

When the yarn 24 on the spool 12 has been wound off, the spool shaft 14will have descended to the position shown at 14A in FIG. 1, after whichthe empty spool 12 is removed from the spool forks 4 and 6 by lifting itso that the ends of shaft 14- pass laterally through a bypass gate 54-.The next yarn spool 3, for example, may then be rolled down the arms ofthe spool frames to the position shown at 14 in F163. 1 and 2, where itwill be ready for operation.

Precise dimensions of the rollers 46, 48 and 5t) and the grooves 42 and44- will result in identical rotational speeds of all of the drums in aspinning frame, thus giving uniform yarn delivery to all of thespindles.

An alternative drive for the drum 26 is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. Inthis construction, the drum is gear driven. The drum is rotatablysupported by four cylindrical rollers, two of which are shown in FIGS. 6and 7 at 56 and 57. The other two rollers are at the other end of thedrum. These rollers cooperate with cylindrical bearing surfaces 55 onthe ends of the drum.

A gear 62 fixed on shaft 39 and mounted adjacent roller 56 positivelydrives drum 26 through a drum gear 66 positioned next to surface 55.

Roller 57 is carried by a bearing with inner and outer races 58 and of).The shaft 28 is stationary. The rollers at the other end of the drum aresimilar to rollers 56 and 57.

Flanges 61 on the rollers 56 and 57 prevent axial shifting of drum 26.

Since all the drums 26 in a spinning frame are simultaneously driven byidentical gearing, it follows that the drums will rotate at uniformspeeds to cause a uniform rate of yarn delivery to the spindles.

The invention herein disclosed thus provides novel means accomplishingthe objects set forth above and, while primarily for use in the textileindustry, it may be applied elsewhere Where similar conditions exist.Forms alternative to the presently preferred embodiment described abovewill now become apparent to those skilled in the pertinent art, and itis therefore to be understood that my apparatus and process are not tobe construed as limited by the foregoing language but, on the con trary,that the invention is limited only by the full scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a spinning frame, a shaftless drum with its axis horizontal, ayarn spool comprising a barrel with the yarn of said spool wound on saidbarrel and resting on said drum, yarn spool heads closely straddling theends of said drum, rotatable means below and inboard of the ends of saiddrum for supporting and rotating said drum, means for maintaining saidyarn spool and drum in vertical and endwise alignment, the radius ofeach said head less the radius of said barrel being greater than theradius of said drum, whereby when the yarn on said spool is exhaustedand said barrel rests on said drum, the lower edge of said head will bebelow the axis of said drum.

2. In a spinning frame including spaced spool forks, a pair of parallelhorizontal shafts whose axes lie in the same horizontal plane, at leasttwo rollers on each of the said shafts, a shaftless drum having acircumferential surface about each end, the said rollers engaging saidsur faces and supporting said drum, means actuated by one of said shaftswhereby rotation of that shaft causes rotation of the said drum, a yarnspool comprising spaced heads and a barrel therebetween and having ashaft extending from said spool at each end, said shaft guidedvertically by the said spool forks, the said heads on the said yarnspool being longitudinally spaced to extend respectively beyond therespective ends of the said drum and within the confines of adjacentspool forks, the difference between the radius of the barrel of the saidyarn spool and the radius of the said yarn spool heads being greaterthan the radius of the said drum and less than the diameter of the saiddrum, whereby as yarn is unwound from said yarn spool, the lower edge ofsaid spool heads will drop below the axis of said drum with downwardmovement of said spool limited by engagement of said spool heads withone or both of said roller shafts or by contact of said barrel with saiddrum.

3. In a spinning frame, a yarn spool with a head at each end, spacedspool forks mounted on the said frame supporting the said spool, a drumfor causing rotation of the said spool and means for rotating the saiddrum, the said drum comprising a horizontal cylindrical element locatedbetween adjacent spool forks, the said element having a circumferentialgroove at at least one end thereof, the said means for rotating saiddrum comprising first and second parallel shafts mounted longitudinallyon the said frame, said drum being above and paralleling said shafts, atleast four small rollers mounted on the said shafts and spacedlongitudinally and supporting the said drum so that at least two of thesaid rollers reside in the said groove at one end of the said drum andon upposite sides of its axis and at least two of the other rollerssupport the other end of the said drum, one of the rollers residing inthe said groove being fixed to the first shaft, and means for rotatingthe said first shaft and the said roller fixed thereto, thereby to causerotation of the said drum, the ends of the said drum being spaced fromthe said adjacent spool forks sufficiently so that the respective headsof each yarn spool rotated by the said drum may, as the yarn thereon isconsumed, descend in overlapping relation with the respective ends ofthe said drum, the downward movement of the said spool being limitedpotentially by the engagement of the spool with the drum.

4. The construction as set forth in claim 3, the said circumferentailgroove on the said drum being in V-form, the said rollers on the saidshafts residing in the said groove having a corresponding configurationyielding good frictional engagement therewith, thereby to provide aneffective driving connection.

5. A drum for use in a spinning frame, the said drum comprising ashaftless elongated tubular element fluted on its exterior, heads atboth ends of the said drum and secured thereto, smooth circumferentialsurfaces extending about each of the said heads, the said surfaces beingadapted to rest on spaced supporting rollers, and a ring gear adjacentone of said surfaces and recessed into the related head.

6. In a spinning frame, a shaftless drum for causing rotation of a yarnspool, means located at the lower periphery of the said drum forsupporting it on said frame, means for rotating said shaftless drum, ayarn spool comprising a barrel, a pair of spaced heads at the ends ofthe said barrel and a shaft having its ends extending through and beyondsaid heads, the said heads being adapted to straddle the ends of thesaid drum as the yarn spool descends theretoward upon the unwinding ofthe yarn thereon, the radius of the yarn spool heads being of the orderof twice the radius of the said drum, and spaced spool forks on the saidframe at the ends of the said yarn spool cooperating with said shaftends for maintaining said yarn spool on top of the said drum as yarn isunwound therefrom.

7. The structure defined in claim 6, said means for rotating saidshaftless drum including a geared member on said drum and a driving gearin engagement therewith.

8. The structure as defined in claim 7, said driving gear 5 beingcoaxial with said means for supporting said drum 2,441,189 on saidframe. 2,466,615 2,633,917 References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 5 756 537 J I 2,405,908 Siicox Aug. 13, 1946 6Eshieman May 11, 1948 Rusca et a1. Apr. 5, 1949 Furst July 20, 1954FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 7, 1955

1. IN A SPINNING FRAME, A SHAFTLESS DRUM WITH ITS AXIS HORIZONTAL, AYARN SPOOL COMPRISING A BARREL WITH THE YARN OF SAID SPOOL WOUND ON SAIDBARREL AND RESTING ON SAID DRUM, YARN SPOOL HEADS CLOSELY STRADDLING THEENDS OF SAID DRUM, ROTATABLE MEANS BELOW AND INBOARD OF THE ENDS OF SAIDDRUM FOR SUPPORTING AND ROTATING SAID DRUM, MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAIDYARN SPOOL AND DRUM IN VERTICAL AND ENDWISE ALIGNMENT, THE RADIUS OFEACH SAID HEAD LESS THE RADIUS OF SAID BARREL BEING GREATER THAN THERADIUS OF SAID DRUM, WHEREBY WHEN THE YARN ON SAID SPOOL IS EXHAUSTEDAND SAID BARREL RESTS ON SAID DRUM, THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID HEAD WILL BEBELOW THE AXIS OF SAID DRUM.